Skip to main content

‘I can’t breathe’ protests heat up as curfews imposed in several US cities

US protests

Civil unrest flared and curfews were imposed in several major U.S. cities on Saturday as demonstrators took to the streets to vent outrage at the death of a black man shown on video gasping for breath as a white Minneapolis policeman knelt on his neck.

From Los Angeles to Miami to Chicago, protests marked by chants of “I can’t breathe” – a rallying cry echoing the dying words of George Floyd – began peacefully before turning unruly as demonstrators blocked traffic, set fires and clashed with riot police, some firing tear gas and plastic bullets in an effort to restore order.

The sight of protesters flooding streets fueled a sense of crisis in the United States after weeks of lockdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has seen millions thrown out of work and has disproportionately affected minority communities.

In the nation’s capital, hundreds of demonstrators assembled near the Justice Department headquarters shouting, “black lives matter.” Many later moved to the White House, where they faced off with shield-carrying police, some mounted on horseback.

President Donald Trump said on Saturday that if protesters who gathered the night before in Lafayette Square, across from the White House, had breached the fence, “they would have been greeted with the most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons, I have ever seen.”

The full Minnesota National Guard was activated for the first time since World War Two after four nights of arson, looting and vandalism in parts of Minneapolis, the state’s largest city, and its adjacent capital, St. Paul.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said the deployment was necessary because outside agitators were using protests over Floyd’s death to sow chaos.

“We are under assault,” Walz, a first-term governor elected from Minnesota’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, told a briefing on Saturday. “Order needs to be restored.”

Separately, U.S. Attorney General William Barr also pointed the finger at extremist instigators, though he and Walz – neither offering evidence to support their assertions – suggested opposite ends of the political fringe were to blame.

NATIONAL DISCONTENT REFLECTED

Civil rights activists said video of Floyd’s arrest on Monday – captured by an onlooker’s cellphone as he repeatedly groaned, “please, I can’t breathe” before he died – triggered an outpouring of rage long simmering over persistent racial bias in the U.S. criminal justice system.

But the rapidly spreading protests also coincided with a deep-seated national discontent over the social claustrophobia and economic carnage wrought by the coronavirus pandemic.

In a surreal moment for Miami on Saturday, police sirens and lights flooded downtown neighborhoods as fireworks began crackling and booming over Biscayne Bay to honor healthcare workers fighting the pandemic. Hundreds of police in riot gear swarmed the area, threatening to arrest anyone, including media, who ventured onto the streets.

Curfews were imposed in several major cities rocked by civil disturbances in recent days, including Atlanta, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Denver, Cincinnati, Portland, Oregon, and Louisville, Kentucky. Protests also flared on Saturday in Dallas, Chicago, Seattle, Salt Lake City and Cleveland.

In an extraordinary move, the Pentagon said it put military units on a four-hour alert to be ready if requested by the Minnesota governor to help keep the peace.

National Guard units also were mobilized by the governors of Ohio, Missouri, Wisconsin and Tennessee.

The streets of Minneapolis were largely quiet during the day on Saturday. Several armored National Guard vehicles were seen rolling through town and authorities later closed major highways leading in and out of Minneapolis-St. Paul.

At dusk, as the curfew went into effect, police confronted some 500 protesters milling around a burned-out bank and opened fire with tear gas and plastic bullets, sending the crowd scurrying

The post ‘I can’t breathe’ protests heat up as curfews imposed in several US cities appeared first on ARY NEWS.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

K-Electric fined Rs2 mn over weak power supply system

ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Wednesday imposed a fine of Rs2 million on the K-Electric. According to a statement issued by the power regulatory authority, the K-Electric was penalized over non-compliance of performance standards, particularly its failure to restore power supply within the prescribed time frame and to ensure the safety of public in Karachi. Quoting media reports, it said large swathes of Karachi remained without electricity due to the tripping of almost 700 feeders during rainy weather in June last year, which resulted in long power blackouts ranging from 24 hours to 48 hours in almost 50% areas of Karachi. Further, there were also reports of fatal injuries to some people owing to electrocution. The Nepra took notice of the situation in Karachi and directed the K-Electric to immediately provide a detailed report on the tripping of feeders and electrocution incidents along with preventive and corrective steps taken by K-Elec...

10 creepy celebrity wax statues

Waxworks of celebrities, sports persons and politicians such as Tom Cruise, Barack Obama and Christiano Ronaldo are admired by people all over the world. The craft requires taking careful and accurate measurements to create these wax statues, which are then polished and perfected to make for an exact replica. Madame Tussaud’s is one of the most famous museums in the world that displays wax statues, however, not all wax museums in the world craft flawless statues. Compiled from Cosmopolitan India , here is a list of the creepiest celebrity wax statues. Barack Obama PHOTO: COSMOPOLITAN David and Victoria Beckham PHOTO: COSMOPOLITAN Jennifer Aniston PHOTO: COSMOPOLITAN Beyonce’s wax statue sparks outrage Jennifer Lopez PHOTO: COSMOPOLITAN Justin Bieber PHOTO: COSMOPOLITAN Justin Timberlake PHOTO: COSMOPOLITAN Aamir Khan PHOTO: COSMOPOLITAN Katrina Kaif PHOTO: COSMOPOLITAN London’s Tussauds gets to work on Trump wax figure Selena Gomez PHOTO: C...

Accountability court hears assets case against Ishaq Dar

ISLAMABAD: An accountability court in Islamabad on Wednesday resumed the hearing of a reference filed against former finance minister Ishaq Dar by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for allegedly accumulating assets beyond his known sources of income.  Judge Muhammad Bashir is recording the statement of a prosecution witness, Ishtiaq Ahmed. At the previous hearing, the accountability judge had reserved his verdict on an application filed by two co-accused seeking acquittal in the case. Naeem Mehmood and Mansoor Rizvi, who are directors of Dar’s companies, had filed the application requesting the judge to exonerate them from all charges for want of evidence. Qazi Misbah, the counsel for the two co-accused, contended the prosecution has failed to provide compelling evidence to prove the allegations leveled against his clients. The third co-accused President National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), Saeed Ahmed, had already filed an application before the court for his acquittal wh...